In conventional rail arrangements, a rail may be partially covered with a jacket or “boot” made of rubber. In many cases, the jacket has two purposes: first, it is intended to electrically isolate the rail relative to the ground material in the vicinity, and second, it is intended to mitigate transmission of vibrations from the rail to the ground material.
As is well known in the art, when a train wheel rolls over the rail, the train wheel causes the rail to vibrate. Typically, the vibrations are transmitted through the rail, and generally (but not entirely) propagated or transmitted through the jacket or boot to the ground material. In the prior art, such vibrations (or portions thereof, as the case may be) are then transmitted or propagated through the ground material. The vibrations may be significant enough to disturb those located a short distance away from the prior art rail. For example, where a streetcar or LRT travels on a city street, e.g., past a hospital or a school, the vibrations generated by the rolling engagement of the train wheels with the rail may be generally transmitted through the ground material, to potentially disturb people located in the hospital or in the school.
There have been attempts to partially isolate, or attenuate, vibrations by modifying the jacket or boot. However, there are some disadvantages to the conventional jackets or boots. For example, the conventional boots used in North America generally do not attenuate vibrations well, particularly at lower ambient temperatures. This is because the materials that the boots are typically made of are materials that are relatively easily extrudable, but such materials tend to become rigid and brittle in cold weather. It has been found that, in these conditions, the typical boot does not attenuate vibrations well. Also, certain of the conventional boots generally do not, seamlessly and without any interruption or break thereof, isolate the rail from the ground material. Interruptions in the conventional boots undermine their effectiveness. In summary, the conventional boots provide generally inadequate or inconsistent attenuation of vibrations.